Telescope (Base Game)

Telescope is a Station, that provides access to Starmap by researching Space Destinations. It requires direct view of the sky to work at all and some additional open space above it to gain full effectiveness in a way similar to Space Scanner.

Telescope in DLC
For the Spaced Out DLC the Telescope and the Rocketry program has been entirely reworked.

See:
 * Telescope in Spaced Out
 * Starmap in Spaced Out
 * Rocketry in Spaced Out

Mechanics
Only tiles at the level of parabolic roof and above affect the visibility calculation. The visibility area is asymmetric, it counts 5 tiles width on the left side and 2 tiles the right side. Any reduction in lux level from tiles, gas, or liquid (including Window Tiles) will decrease visibility by 9%. Note that opened airlocks, Airflow and Mesh Tile will not impede visibility.

The complete lack of "view of the sky" fully disables building. It will not accept oxygen or duplicants in this state. Some amount of oxygen is required for duplicant to start working with it, and oxygen is consumed at a constant rate while they work. However their work will not be interrupted or impeded if stored oxygen runs out, nor will duplicants get any breathing issues while in the building.

Tips

 * Even at a third of visibility it performs scans quickly enough. There is not much point in striving for 100% efficiency.
 * The telescope is very susceptible to being broken by the heat which regolith emits. It is suggested to avoid this by placing a timed automated mechanized airlock below it to let the regolith pass through it, have a cooling setup, or build it from steel.
 * Check the Light Overlay if you have trouble finding out why your telescope has reduced visibility. Anything that reduces the lux level from the level in space will decrease visibility by 9%, even a tile with 5g oxygen. Due to this fact, it is not recommended to build a telescope under the surface level.

Trivia

 * The telescope requiring access to direct sunlight is the opposite of how telescopes (that are not used to directly study the local sun) work. Generally stray light would be shielded as much as possible, however if a hole to space is found beneath the surface (which would look perpendicular to the sun and be shielded, ideal for observing other stars and planets) the telescope is unable to function.